I think one potential research question that I would possibly like to follow is how the colonization of Latin America changed the environment. I think this is important to study because this time period of colonialism is when environments started to change and really be disturbed by humans. I know that many of the indigenous empires did farm and cultivate the lands, so I am also curious about how the Europeans changed the way that the native people used land. We also know that because of the die-off of millions of people during this time caused the land to be reclaimed by forests and cooled the atmosphere. I am excited to learn more about different environmental changes.

I am interested in ancient trade networks within prehispanic Mesoamerica. A question I might want to investigate is: how did the interconnectedness or disconnectedness of trade affect relations between ancient Aztec and Mayan society?

As a comparative project, I think it would be interesting to look at the ways trade remained central or expanded outside the boundaries of different Mesoamerican societies. One academic journal I was looking at discussed the importance of the marketplace because it was the center of commerce within a city. This allowed communities to come together and sell their products to other individuals from other regions. Another historical journal emphasized how dynamic the Mesoamerican economy was, which counters previous research that said that Mesoamerican economies were completely localized. There are many directions I could take this. I could focus specifically on certain resources, such as maize, obsidian, or crafts. Or I could look at the bigger picture and address the trade networks and trends between different Mesoamerican societies.

One of the research avenues I am toying with pursuing is to review colonial Latin American conquest dramas such as The End of Atau Wallpa and The Loa for the Auto Sacramental of The Divine Narcissus. How do these conquest dramas express the attitudes of the native peoples toward colonization, and how do those performative reflections stack up to primary documents detailing those same attitudes?

In my major, it is important to recognize the importance of pieces of drama from parts of the world that are not Europe. And further, in recognizing those records as historically relevant, they are made all the more important in academia; we should study the texts in the same ways as we study Shakespeare.

One potential research question I am interested in is as follows: What were the primary modes of thought in the late Middle Ages and how were non-European peoples and places described in literature?

This question is important because it allows us to learn about the worldview of Europeans in the Middle Ages, how they perceived the world around them, and how this perspective may have developed or changed over time. Furthermore, it can help us to identify the preconceived notions that Europeans had about the New World pre-contact. I think that, by looking at European modes of thought, we can better comprehend why they took certain actions and believed certain things about the world beyond Europe. It is also important to know what ideas people chose to write down versus those that they decided not to mention. Ultimately, all of these concepts may allow us to more easily track the European mindset, beliefs, and intentions post-contact.

A big part of the American experience is saying who is a true native in the area, with Latin American history is a huge argument torse what communities have been there the longest. With recent studies showing that most communities in the Latin American citizens of recent days are descendants of the original ancestors that lived in the colonial Americas. The biggest population traveled from north Siberia through the land bridge that connected Siberia and Alaska between about 34,000 and 11,000 years ago.

Learning the history of where the true ancestors would create and open mind that no one is truly a native in the land. This would make more of an idea that we are all immigrants and that everyone should be equal. It would help with the acceptance of immigration moving to different countries. While also learning the process of finding proof of the original tribes located in Latin America. With also showing what was truly their experience they had with the Europeans traveling over. With the allegations torse of Columbus that truly made showed that the Europeans did not come to make things better and took advantage of people that different than them. Which shows that this is a constant problem in all of history.

During this semester there are some specific topics I’d like to learn. One of the main ones that interests me is the military conquest of the Europeans and how the natives fought back. Perhaps we’d learn more about particular battles that took place. Clearly the Europeans were at a technological advantage with their firearms, but I’d be interested in knowing how the natives fought back and tried to level the playing field I think that would be very intriguing.

Another main topic I’d like to focus on this semester is religion amongst the natives. Obviously we’ve all seen the glorified human sacrifices on television. I’d like to dive into how accurate and prevalent things such as human sacrifice were amongst natives. Also stuff such as the jaguar being glorified interests me. Was the jaguar and other animals particularly important to native culture or has Hollywood just put more emphasis on these things than actually existed.

This semester, I want to gain a better baseline understanding of Latin America before, during, and after the arrival of European imperialists. Thus far, I have noticed that history courses tend to somewhat overlook how colonialism affected, and still affects the people in a variety of different ways. I think it is important to highlight not only the strategies and reasons why Europeans decided to invade Latin America, but also the full history of how Latin American peoples lives were impacted. In this, I think it is easy to paint the colonial experience as singular, generalizing how individuals and communities were conquered by colonizers; however, I would like to learn how to more intentionally study the intricacies of colonial Latin America while highlighting the variety of experiences among different individuals and communities.

More specifically, I would like to learn more about how material culture was influenced by the arrival of colonizers. While the assumption among most who study this subject is that Spaniards arrived in many communities in Latin America and imposed their way of life upon innocent people, this obviously paints the picture that the colonized lacked the autonomy and power to decide what they desired for themselves. I would like to learn more about how indigenous Latin American communities reacted to the influx of Europeans and how power, identity, and the desire for development affected the culture shifts inevitably took place.

During this semester, there are a couple things that I would like to learn in this class. The most important thing is that I would like to learn more about how Latin America, and its colonization, impacted the European world, as in previous classes I’ve mostly only learned of its impact on the United States. Understanding its impact is vital to understanding how it shaped the world as we know it today, and I would like to learn more about this.

I would also like to learn more from the points of view of the natives, as I have generally only read and looked at European documents and ideas before now. Understanding diverse cultures and ideals will help me to open my eyes, and look at things from a new angle.

This semester I am excited to learn about a variety of things related to Colonial Latin American history. I think that it will be interesting to be able to go really in-depth in this world, which isn’t something that I have been able to do in my past history classes. I remember a world history class that I took in high school that literally covered millions of years. While the patterns of history that we explored were interesting, the class didn’t allow us to learn about any specific details of a given time. In this class, I think that the opposite will be true, and I’m excited to learn about people, places, and events that I haven’t before.

More specifically, I’m excited to learn about the various revolutions that occurred during this era, because I think that these especially are ignored in other history classes. Events like Mexico’s independence, the Haitian Revolution, and people like Simon Boliver were instrumental in forming the world that we know today, but I don’t know that much about them, especially when compared to my knowledge of similar events in other regions of the world.  I think that this class will broaden my knowledge of our world’s history, and I’m excited for that to happen.

This semester, I want to learn more in general about Latin America and the history of its colonial past – I have never really taken a history class that covered this area of the world and its past in depth, despite having taken quite a few in the past. I feel that it’s an extremely important area of history that is not nearly discussed enough, especially concerning the culture of the Native American societies present in Latin America prior to the arrival of Europeans. I’ve always been both fascinated and horrified by the sheer scale of the epidemics that wracked the Americas during this period of time. The truly unprecedented events that occurred are only made more interesting for me by the continuously emerging evidence of larger and larger population sizes and developed civilizations. I’m deeply interested in learning more about these societies, and how they dealt with the events brought on by European contact.

Another, far removed area of Latin American history I’m very interested in learning more about is the era of the revolutions and independence movements in the emerging nations of the region during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. I feel that this time period is criminally underrepresented in comparison to its sheer importance to the history of Latin America, especially in American education. When compared to the likes of the American or French Revolutions, I feel that these events are almost completely ignored by the majority of popular history. I certainly haven’t learned much about them, and I’m hoping that this class will do a lot to advance my knowledge of the subject. This is also why I chose a book about Mexico City during the revolutions for my report.